Materials & Manufacturing

Manufacturing & Prototyping

Explore innovations supporting advances in manufacturing and rapid prototyping. Access the developments and solutions that have an impact on applications in 3D printing and automation.

Stories

Briefs: Electronics & Computers

Micro-Supercapacitors Enable Fast Charging

Micro-supercapacitors could revolutionize the way we use batteries by increasing their lifespan and enabling extremely fast charging. Now, researchers at Chalmers University of Technology have...

Articles: Energy

The Rechargeable Renaissance

After years of lukewarm reception and limited funding, it looks as if the battery electric vehicle (BEV) market is finally going full throttle. According to a recent Forbes article, Schmidt Automotive Research...

Articles: Manufacturing & Prototyping

Manufacturing Advances in Solid-State Batteries

Battery engineers targeting electric vehicles (EVs) continue to research designs with solid-state electrolyte because of the alluring twin promises of significantly higher energy densities...

INSIDER: Motion Control

Molecular Robots Work Cooperatively in Swarms

In a global first, scientists have demonstrated that molecular robots are able to accomplish cargo delivery by employing a strategy of swarming, achieving a transport efficiency five times...

INSIDER: Sensors/Data Acquisition

Machine Intelligence to Build Soft Machines

Soft machines — a subcategory of robotics that uses deformable materials instead of rigid links — are an emerging technology commonly used in wearable robotics and biomimetics (e.g.,...

INSIDER: Materials

Microdrones With Light-Driven Nanomotors

Physicists at the University of Würzburg have propelled micrometer-sized drones significantly smaller than red blood cells, exerting precise control, using only light.

Question of the Week: Energy

Would You Wear a Microgrid?

Our April issue of Tech Briefs highlighted a wearable microgrid that powers electronics by harvesting energy from the wearer’s body. The wearable (shown here) has three components: sweat-powered biofuel cells, motion-powered devices called triboelectric generators, and energy-storing supercapacitors. All parts are...

Blog: Manufacturing & Prototyping

Why Hasn’t 3D Printing Caught On in Automotive?

More “talking across industries” can drive growth in additive manufacturing, says an industry expert.

Application Briefs: Electronics & Computers

Configuring Spacecraft’s On-Board Computing Systems

A platform makes space-bound systems quick, easy, and cost-effective to develop.

Videos: Wearables

5 High-Tech Materials That Sense and Detect

A variety of electronics and sensors are being integrated into today’s materials to spot a variety of parameters: from damage to a product design to stress on your heart.

INSIDER: Sensors/Data Acquisition

Fast Low-Cost Sensor Prototyping for Wearable Technology

Engineers at UC Berkeley have developed a new technique for making sensors for wearable technology that enables medical researchers to prototype-test new designs much faster and at a...

INSIDER: Physical Sciences

Atomic Scale Semiconductor Chips — Pushing the Limits

The information age created over nearly 60 years has given the world the internet, smart phones, and lightning-fast computers. Making this possible has been the doubling of the number...

INSIDER: Electronics & Computers

Perovskite High-Performance Transistors Can Be Printed

A Pohang University of Science and Technology (POSTECH) research team has improved the performance of a p-type semiconductor transistor using inorganic metal halide perovskite. One of...

NASA Spinoff: Green Design & Manufacturing

Combating COVID-19 with Clean Air Tech

NASA-derived air-quality technologies help curtail the spread of COVID-19 pandemic.

Special Reports: Design

Medical Robotics - April 2022

Novel biosensors set to revolutionize brain-controlled robotics...micro-robots propelled by air bubbles...a smart artificial hand...major advances in exoskeleton technology. These are just a few of the medical...